Worship in Unexpected Places - Part 1

On Sunday night, some friends and I had the luckiest of chances to go to a secret show in Nashville featuring NEEDTOBREATHE & Ben Rector. The former has been a big and ever-changing part of my Life Book for many years.

One thing is always true: they never fail to put on a foot-stomping, roof-raising show - and it takes a lot for me not to jump on the opportunity to see them in an intimate setting. We were pumped about this show: we knew we would sing loudly; we knew we would dance until we hurt; we even knew it would tug on some heartstrings, since their music has meant so much to us as individuals and friends in many seasons. What I didn't expect was what a worshipful experience it would be.

I could write for hours about their songs. How I fell in love with "Something Beautiful" for its 7/4 time signature, but how it resonates so differently today. How we passionately and tearfully blasted "More Time" in the days leading up to graduation. Every "Washed By the Water" acoustic performance in Nashville. And many, many individual lyrics.

In these post-Namibia, start-of-adulthood times, I have found myself more broken than I imagined possible - and have subsequently found solace in places I didn't expect. Hearing things like...
- "give me the faith to believe in these hard times"
- "leave your hurting on the road behind you, let the wind go with you til the morning comes"
- "all you burdened and broken down, bring all of your troubles, come lay 'em down"
- "your chains will never fall until you do"
- "I know pain is just a place, the will has been broken"
- "grace, she comes with a heavy load"
...opens deep wounds and soothes forgotten scars. Watching each of them worship - even tear up - to Truths sung in such powerful and lyrically impressive ways is big stuff.

In case you haven't heard, they're coming out with a new CD tomorrow. I'm going to be bold and say that this is their best record yet. These guys carry Jesus on their tongues & hearts, and that bursts through these songs more than ever before. Having recently gained such immense popularity, they carry an imminent and important ministry and it's encouraging to see them not shy away from that in their writing. Selfishly, I'm grateful for a lot of really, really great songs to chew on and play on repeat.

They closed Sunday's show with a stripped-down, fully acoustic version of a song off their new record called "A Place Only You Can Go." I wept out of that deep soul place the first time I heard this song and still get goosebumps when the accordion chimes in. The combination of Truth and music carries it all. If I were a savvy enough blogger to know how to embed this song in my post, I would. But alas - you'll have to search it out when the album hits stores tomorrow.

Worship doesn't just happen in church on Sundays. It sometimes happens in a crowded, sweaty bar surrounded by best friends and loud music. Tonight, I rest in God's grace and His persistance to tug on my heart when I least expect it.